Woman denies
weapon charge

A Waianae woman has pleaded not guilty to federal charges stemming from a Molotov cocktail seized from her car earlier this month.

Willolyn Kapena Jose, 27, was initially arrested by Honolulu police Aug. 7 for suspicion of possessing a prohibited device.

Police said she and the car she was driving fit the description given by a witness who reported seeing a suspicious vehicle the day before near the site of a 400-acre brush fire near Honokai Hale -- one of many that has plagued the Leeward Coast in recent months.

Police found in Jose's car a beer bottle filled with an unidentified liquid with a wick protruding from the top of the bottle. They also found an empty gas container in the car.

A federal grand jury indicted Jose on Wednesday, and she was arrested in Kapolei on a federal warrant the next day.

The two-count indictment, unsealed yesterday in U.S. District Court, charges Jose with making and possessing a destructive device.

Molotov cocktails are considered incendiary devices. Federal statute makes it unlawful for anyone to possess or make a destructive device not registered to the person in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer record.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Shipley has requested that Jose be held without bail pending trial on the charges. A detention hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

If convicted, Jose faces a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment on each of the charges and fines of up to $250,000.